Analysis of the confectionery and jam markets in China
Our client is a major international confectionery and jam manufacturer looking for new routes for further development into the Chinese market. They were searching for secondary and primary research on the Chinese market as well as actionable recommendations for expansion within the Chinese market.
What We Did: Observational Analysis and go-to-market
We created a two-step process for an analysis of the confectionery and jam markets in China. This process began with an Observational Analysis of the two markets followed by Recommended Routes for Development.
- Observational Analysis. This contained a Desk Research market overview. This included research on market trends, market size, as well as market players and their strategies. We examined top products including their packaging and ingredients. We also sought to understand consumers’ needs and tastes. We also looked at the geographic presence of each product. We sought to get a full understanding of distribution channels and networks in addition to the challenges and obstacles that our client will face in seeking to expand further into the Chinese market.We paired the Desk Research with a series of In-Depth Interviews with Market Insiders in order to obtain information from primary sources to complement our secondary source research. We usually pair our Desk Research methodology with our In-Depth Interviews methodology in order to fill in any gaps that may appear in our research. We also use In-Depth Interviews to confirm or falsify what we hypothesized during the Desk Research phase.
Some of the questions that we sought to answer during the In-Depth Interviews with Market Insiders phase of this project were:
- Who are the key players in this market?
- What are the strategies of these key players?
- What are the best practices for this market?
- What are the preferred distribution channels to this market?
- What products do Chinese consumers prefer to buy?
- How should our client effectively promote itself in the market?
- What will be the biggest challenge for our client in China?
- Recommended Routes for Development. This step contained our Final Analysis and Recommendations including:
- Cross-analyze data collected during the Desk Research and In-Depth Interviews phases
- Identify and assess the opportunities, challenges, and obstacles that our client might face during their market development in China
- Propose possible development routes for our client in China
- Synthesize the data and create a final list of actionable recommendations
Our Final Recommendations
We gave recommendations for how to change the package and product to better suit both Chinese adults and children. We compared the client’s packaging and product to competitors’, giving recommendations for what aspects of each competitor to adopt and which aspects to avoid. We also gave our client a full strategic plan including suggested price range, place of sale, and promotional strategy.